1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing system, and an image processing apparatus and a portable information communication device for use in the image processing system. In particular, the present invention relates to an image processing system in which image processing is performed on an image obtained by a portable information communication device such as a mobile telephone, and an image processing apparatus and a portable information communication device for use in the image processing system.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, portable information communication devices including mobile telephones and PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) terminals have come rapidly into widespread use.
With a mobile telephone, for instance, it is possible to transmit and receive image information as well as voice information through a communication line. Therefore, it is possible to receive an image from an image delivery site providing an image delivery service or to receive an image transmitted from a party on the other end and display the received image on a display.
On the other hand, with a personal computer, in order to enhance the quality of an obtained image, image processing is performed on the image using image processing software. Also, there is currently provided a service in which an image is transmitted to a print shop (processing laboratory, for instance) through a communication line and creation of a high-quality print is ordered. At this time, a plurality of images (thumbnail images) are displayed on a display and image processing and selection of an image, whose print is to be ordered, are performed using the displayed images.
However, the portable information communication device like a mobile telephone suffers from the following shortcomings due to its portability. For instance, its display for displaying an image or the like is small, its operability and throughput are inferior, and its memory is small in capacity.
Therefore, the portable information communication device like a mobile telephone has the following various problems. First, the portable information communication device is not suited to simultaneously displaying a plurality of images in order to allow a user to select a desired image. Also, the portable information communication device is not suited to selecting the desired image from among a plurality of displayed images. Further, the portable information communication device is not suited to performing image processing on the desired image. Still further, the portable information communication device is not suited to storing many images for realizing the selection of the desired image.